Confessions of a Dwarf
by White Shade
Summary: What would have happened if Doc had been a bit wiser about Rumpel's potion administered to Snow...he should have known this day would come. Rated for injury sustained. One shot.


The predicament wasn't like any of the others. This was getting serious. Snow White had to do something about her confidence because it was waning quite heavily. She wouldn't go outside, she would hardly do her work that she seemed to always enjoy doing, and she hardly said anything to the dwarves most of the day. While the others were out hunting, Doc would stay at home with Snow, wondering if she'd ever tell him what was wrong.

The prince had to be part of this. Grumpy told her not to take the potion, and just to be safe, Doc took it away from her. She sagged constantly, and today, Doc took her out for a walk. They stopped at a section of the woods on their way home, sitting on a large log dropped by the lightning storm weeks ago.

"I want to do something...I want to take back my kingdom...I want to live," Snow complained.

"Snow, you are living and there isn't much you can do. The Evil Queen is..." Doc began.

"I don't care. I want to take her down! She ruined everything for me...somehow I don't know how but she did! I just... I want to stop feeling so helpless."

They sat on the log, and Doc sighed, knowing exactly what Grumpy would say if he were here. If she was finally tell him, she'd tell everyone eventually...

"There might be a way," Doc said, the spark of an idea gleaming from his darkened eyes. A hand reached up to remove his glasses as he stared intently into his book. A book on strategy and logic.

This had never occurred to him before, and although the idea was quite a long shot, as a lot of things were with Grumpy, Doc hurriedly flipped to the beginning of the book.

Snow glanced at the dwarf, hoping he was onto something brilliant, though she dare not show in her face complete faith. Complete faith is blind faith as well, or so that's what Doc had also taught her.

"Snow," Doc said wearily, his eyes still glued to the page. "What would you say if I told you my friends and I could teach you...to fight?"

Snow White looked at the ground after he asked what was on his mind, pondering the possibility. A girl learning how to fight? The idea was rather ridiculing in itself, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She'd always been a different sort of girl due to her circumstances.

"When do I start?" she asked.

* * *

"All righty," Grumpy said, revving himself up. "Throwing a knife is like eh... eh... it's like throwing a knife." He positioned himself in an exact stance, his feet not too far apart yet firmly planted as if part of the earth.

"You stand, like so," he gestured to himself. "You can either hold the knife by the blade or the handle. Personally, the blade be much simpler. Then, now watch me carefully, keep the wrist straight on and locked with the target." He used his left hand first and then adjusted his other hand.

"And..." Grumpy threw the blade, sending his right arm straight back and then releasing. The knife pierced the center of the knot in a tree trunk about 20 feet away.

"You throw it. Ye can also use your other hand as I did to help align yourself," the dwarf concluded, handing Snow another knife. They had plenty of those around here.

"O-okay," Snow White stuttered. "I'll try." She attempted to imitate Grumpy's stance, visualizing how she remembered him. Taking the blade, Snow found its icy touch to be quite shocking. Carefully and focused, she thought she was aiming but when she threw the knife, it landed on the ground.

"Not even close," she sighed.

"Well, I'd say for a f-first try, it- it was pretty good," Bashful interrupted, walking past them. Snow smirked at him as he continued on his way.

"We'll work on that," Grumpy grunted. "But you have the idea." Even after Grumpy took his leave, Snow practiced on that same tree.

* * *

There were times when she completely missed, there were times when she scraped the tree's bark, and then there were times when the knife actually stuck in the tree but was far from her target.

Time after time, Snow became frustrated. The knife didn't want to reach the tree on her last ten attempts, and it was only then she noticed the condition of her right hand. It was full of cuts, blood and a deep scratch. Surprisingly, Snow hadn't felt any of these wounds develop, but that was definitely the cause of the knife slipping through her hands and landing on the ground. Looking to the sky, there was plenty of time, so Snow switched hands. At first, her left hand was clumsy and not very well aimed, perhaps shaky at times. By sunset, however, her left hand had also sustained injury almost identical to the other.

Since she had not covered the wounds at all, Snow figured it was about time to head back to the cottage. She picked up the knives, thinking that the wounds looked worse than what they really felt like. As she walked closer to the cottage, a peculiar scent reached her nose. That was no ordinary supper.

* * *

Doc had duck on the fire, probably making a soup, and Snow knew that smell anywhere she went. Hurriedly, Snow came to the door, about to open it. The wounds weren't for show, and when she tried to turn the knob, her wounds throbbed in agony and irritation.

"Ah!" she whispered, for that had hurt a far greater deal than what she anticipated.

"Hiya Snow!" another voice sounded in excitement. Behind her was Dopey, looking jocund with his sack partially filled with nuts and berries. "I'll get that." He opened the door for her, though Snow only nodded in thanks. Her first sight was Doc near the open flame with the pot about it. He was mixing his masterpiece: duck soup.

This was Happy's favorite meal, and when Grumpy caught a duck this early into spring, Happy just couldn't wait for Doc to make the soup.

"Ah, there you are," Doc greeted, turning his head from the pot and his feet around on the small stool that held him just high enough to reach the pot. He pushed up his glasses seeing both Dopey and Snow. Dopey smiled in return, walking toward Doc to show him what he had gathered out in the woods today.

"Put it right there beside the vegetables. I'll deal with it later," Doc instructed.

As this was happening, Snow quietly snuck away and started for the staircase. When she got upstairs and into the washroom, she dug out a bucket filled with water and a rag. As painful as this had to be, Snow held herself well enough to endure the consequences of scrubbing at open wounds. Problem arose as she discovered dirt was getting into the water and there were little pieces of it still in her wounds which were already painful enough.

"Supper's on the table," Doc startled her, making her back straighten and almost jump as she was kneeling in front of the bucket. Snow glanced back at Doc, and her face told him everything he needed to know. His small figure stepped further into the room which was becoming dark as the sun was fading fast.

She turned once more; she knew Doc didn't like it when she got hurt and that he worried over her as a father or perhaps a brother might. This time was different. Doc extended a hand, pleading with her.

"Let's have a look at that, shall we?" he asked.

Slowly and abashed, Snow acquiesced, revealing the stained rag and the bucket of murky, now red-brown colored water she'd been using. Doc analyzed the wounds, knowing fully well she'd been determined to master a skill overnight. The wise dwarf took a bottle from the cabinet and another rag. He applied some of the contents to each hand, cleaning away the dust and dirt in her worst places. Proceeding to cover her hands, he thought perhaps a chat would help make the situation less awkward.

"You can't impress Grumpy in one night," he began, but Snow just sighed.

"I know," she replied. "I just want to be useful around here and if it helps the kingdom at the same time, why wouldn't I want to work hard?"

"I'm not telling you not to work hard. I'm telling you to take each step in an appropriate stride." Simply, Doc didn't want Snow White to push too hard, for he knew her tendencies by now.

The dwarves had taken care of Snow White since she was smaller, and although Doc didn't know the details about her and the Evil Queen's quarrel, he decided that not knowing was okay. Already the truth was evident: Snow was a good person, fighting for all the right reasons, even if she fought excessively to attain her desires. Perhaps a little _too_ rough at times.

"Don't bother impressing Grumpy," Doc continued. "None of us have." He finished wrapping her last wounded hand and smiled at her through his circular glasses.

"But, he knows the forest and how to survive better than anyone, any of us...I just want to learn from the best," Snow contradicted.

"And trust me, you will," Doc sighed. "Now, come downstairs and have some duck soup. Hot off the pot, my dear!"

Snow found a smile, joining the seven dwarfs for a delicious dinner of duck soup.

* * *

" 'e was an early bird all right," Grumpy explained with a low voice. "And the devil to catch but well worth the trouble, for sure."

Happy complimented on Doc's cooking as he always did, ever so thankfully. Sneezy leaned over off the side of the table, letting out a strident "ACHOO!"

"Gesundheit," Snow instinctively replied. It seemed Sneezy alway had a cold to fight.

"Thank you," he said. "Still got that tickle in my nose."

"You always have a tickle in your nose," Grumpy said, but Sneezy merely nodded. Dopey had just returned to the table after getting more soup, nodding regardless of what they were talking about.

"Dwarfs," Doc addressed. "Just so we are all in understanding about this, Snow White is going to start learning our ways around here. How to survive in the woods in case you get lost-"

"And fight!" Grumpy interrupted loudly.

"Yes...and fight," Doc sighed, sitting back in his chair, thinking he was no longer in control of the situation.

"Oh really, Snow?" Happy exclaimed. "That's great! Then you can come and help us."

"Maybe she can f-fetch the well water with me...an-and then we can skip rocks on the water in the creek," Bashful blushed.

"Don't get your hopes up, Dwarves," Grumpy said in a warning tone of voice. Dopey, who was about to add his opinion, let nothing come out. He sat quiet and allowed for Grumpy to finish.

"I get her first. I'm showin' her how to throw-" the dwarf for the very first time, saw the condition of Snow's hands, raising his dark, shadowed eyebrows at the sight.

"Knives...we have an eager spirit in our house, men." Ironically, only Dopey noticed the difference in Snow that Grumpy was referring to, though he sounded proud of his last words. Snow was eyeing him with a silent voice, appearing to say 'teach me more.'

Dopey put a hand over his mouth, trying to decide whether or not Grumpy had finished so he could voice his opinion now. Snow looked to Doc, and she already knew he might be regretting even bringing the idea to action in the first place.

* * *

Once dinner was finished, Snow took refuge in her bedroom, away from the rest of the dwarves. She practiced her calligraphy, as Doc had taught her. After she'd written a few pages, there was a shy, weary knock at the door.

"Come in," she said timorously. It was Dopey. The little man came over to where she sat and pointed to her hands.

"They're fine Dopey," she told him, a slight alteration in her voice. Dopey had left the door open, and Snow had caught a glimpse of Doc walking up the staircase with his candle light. By now, Sleepy and Bashful had gone to sleep, and Grumpy was probably in the back room doing...whatever it was that he did during the night. Snow could hear Happy's laughter, probably from that old joke book he kept rereading, and...

"ACHOO!"

Sneezy was around someplace. Snow knew Doc hadn't seen her glance in his direction, but she thought it best to converse with the dwarf. Standing up, Dopey looked up at her with puppy-dog, childish eyes, giving her a gentle hug. She smiled whenever he did small gestures such as this. Embracing him in return, she told him it would be all right and she walked out into the hallway with him. Dopey went into the bedroom where all seven of them were _supposed_ to sleep. The candle's glowing light shown dimly under the door crack to Doc's study, and after a deep breath, Snow White quietly opened the door.

Since the door was already ancient and creaky, Snow knew Doc had heard her now, so it was pointless for introductions.

"Tell me what's wrong Doc," Snow said gently. There was a tender moment of silence, but from Snow's standpoint, it felt more like solitude. Ever waiting patiently, she stood with his back facing her.

A quiet _clink_ reached her ears as Doc set down his quill, and then he sighed.

"Snow," Doc began. "Close the door, if you please." She did as he requested and when she came back, he was facing her, an expression didn't quite understand yet.

"Look, my dear, there are certain things I must remember and my mind has not faced the reality. Ever since I found you as a little girl...I began to think that there was more to life than just chopping wood, cooking, mining, and surviving in the forest. The seven of us, all we did was making a living, but to have you in our lives..." he paused, tearing up a little but trying so hard not to convey it.

"I became attached to you, Snow. I think of you as my own and for a very long time. Now, the time has comes where you must learn for yourself and venture out, save the kingdom that is miles away from here... I guess what I'm trying to say is, Snow...be careful out there, and please, for if not their sake then mine...come back to us," Doc concluded.

"Oh, Doc," Snow said, tearing up herself now. The wise dwarf stood and hugged her closer than Dopey had. After a few tears fell from her face, darkening his red hat, she bent over.

"I'll always come back."


End file.
